"The people of the inner-city are the heart of our diverse culture and the focus of my work. Frustration over poverty and injustice in these communities inevitably leads to violence. This conflict represents the human will to overcome inequality, the fight to resist the place and roles assigned to us by the accidents of our birth.
The way I make art is simple: I photograph and sketch the people and places I know and compose and paint these figures in the urban landscapes that they inhabit. The images are composed to highlight specific content, and become a part of my evolving symbol set of urban iconography. These symbols are based on my personal associations. I use these symbols as tools to create a visual language and establish an alternative to traditional artistic models.
My work purposefully confronts the viewer. My paintings are composed to invite direct eye contact with figures and participation in their world. This involvement is important as my work explores the degradation of human values for the constructed values that replaced them. The unvarnished humanity and struggles of these figures conjure unexpected parallels with the viewer, creating a space in which the viewer and figure may, for a moment, come to an understanding. Passive observation is replaced with dynamic dialectic in this middle-ground.
My work honors the people who struggle daily to maintain their humanity in a violent urban landscape. The dignity of these figures is often overlooked. The magnitude of their struggle is frequently ignored. My work invites the viewer to examine the nature of this struggle and question the larger cultural problems so vividly reflected on the razor‚s edge of inner-city life. The human will and desire to overcome suffering is the source of my expression."
The way I make art is simple: I photograph and sketch the people and places I know and compose and paint these figures in the urban landscapes that they inhabit. The images are composed to highlight specific content, and become a part of my evolving symbol set of urban iconography. These symbols are based on my personal associations. I use these symbols as tools to create a visual language and establish an alternative to traditional artistic models.
My work purposefully confronts the viewer. My paintings are composed to invite direct eye contact with figures and participation in their world. This involvement is important as my work explores the degradation of human values for the constructed values that replaced them. The unvarnished humanity and struggles of these figures conjure unexpected parallels with the viewer, creating a space in which the viewer and figure may, for a moment, come to an understanding. Passive observation is replaced with dynamic dialectic in this middle-ground.
My work honors the people who struggle daily to maintain their humanity in a violent urban landscape. The dignity of these figures is often overlooked. The magnitude of their struggle is frequently ignored. My work invites the viewer to examine the nature of this struggle and question the larger cultural problems so vividly reflected on the razor‚s edge of inner-city life. The human will and desire to overcome suffering is the source of my expression."